Parents, teachers unhappy over merger of schools
PARENTS and teachers of two Phoenix schools are disgruntled over the merger of their schools without infrastructural revamp being carried out.
Last week, learners and teachers from Sastri Park Secondary were moved to Woodview Secondary.
There are claims that the move was to allow Ottawa Primary, which had been occupying space at Sastri Park Secondary, to increase its numbers and remain on the property.
The merger took the learner population at Woodview Secondary from 400 to around 1 100
A letter to the circuit head from governing body of Woodview Secondary and the chairperson of the Woodview Ratepayers Association states that a revamp of the school was a must to accommodate all the children and educators.
The letter stated: “There has been no renovations in place at all. There are not sufficient toilets for learners and the increased staff complement. The classrooms are sealed off from windows, with no ventilation.
“The ground space to accommodate our learners during their daily lunch breaks has not been secured by fencing and grass maintenance. Due to no grounds being available, it will be absolute chaos during breaks for over a thousand pupils,” stated the letter.
They added that their tenants, including the skills academy, were asked to vacate the premises as they were advised that the classes were required for use.
“We are now in a huge financial predicament as we do not have sufficient income to run our school for month-to-month operations."
Sharon Sewraj, chairperson of the Woodview Secondary school governing
body (SGB), questioned why the parents were told the school would not merge until Woodview Secondary was revamped to accommodate all users.
“When we were informed of the merger last year, we were promised a revamp of the infrastructure prior to the move.
“An inspection was carried out last year, but no maintenance work was done. Woodview Secondary is a health and safety hazard. The school had been vandalised, and due to a lack of funding could not be repaired in the past.
“Therefore a number of classes were not in use. Woodview Secondary only has one tap for kids to drink water. The principal is now looking for sponsorship to get more
“We were only told of the merger a few days before it happened. Some
children are sitting in open air classes at the moment for subjects like history, due to insufficient space. The condition of classes is bad,” said Sewraj.
She said that the Woodview SGB were not against the merger but wanted the children to have a decent school and also did not agree that learners should be forced to walk distances.
“Children from Zwelisha and Kwamashu are now walking distances to get to school. And crime has increased in the Palmview area. Kids are leaving home at 5.30am to walk to school, and the traffic between Palmview and Brookdale has increased dramatically. Due to that, the whole community is running late these days,” she said.
In a letter addressed to the chairperson of Sadtu, teachers of Woodview Secondary expressed their unhappiness
over the merger.
They said they and the parents were promised that the school infrastructure would be revamped to accommodate the merger, however, to date no renovations had taken place.
“Staff have serious concerns of the health risk due to the limited staff and learner toilets. Classrooms in blocks A, D and E are not conducive to teaching and learning (most of the classroom windows are sealed with bricks and plastered, and there is poor ventilation).
“We were told by the current principal that renovations would happen after the merger.
“This is not acceptable as it poses a danger to both staff and learners,” they said in their letter.
A parent from Woodview Secondary, who did not want to be named,
said they were not given reasons for the merger.
“The existing problems at the school were not addressed before going ahead with the merger. Children are now sitting in crowded classes with more learners,” she said.
A Sastri Park Secondary parent said her child had been arriving late at school daily since last week because of the traffic to get to Woodview Secondary.
“Why were our children forced to move to a school that is out of their area? We were all also forced to buy new uniforms so that there was uniformity. This was an added cost to parents. Our children have now moved to a school that is in a bad state,” said the parent.
The provincial Education Department did not respond.